RF & Microwave Filters

Electromagnetic (EM) waves having frequency range from 300 MHz to 300 GHz is expressed by
the term ‘microwave’. Microwaves are described in terms of wavelength and, their wavelengths
lie between 1 m to 1mm. Wavelength in millimeter range (1-10 mm) is known as millimeter
wave. The frequency range of millimeter waves exist between 30 GHz to 300 GHz. The
Spectrum above the millimeter wave is known as infrared. Most of the frequencies band such
as visible optical spectrum, ultraviolet spectrum and X-ray lie beyond infrared where as radio
frequency (RF) lies below the microwave frequency. The frequency lies between RF and
microwave is not defined specifically, because it depends upon the technologies used for
particular range. RF and microwave are widely used in various areas like communication, radar,
navigation, radio, astronomy, sensing, medical instruments and others. The RF and microwave
spectrum can be further divided into many frequencies band.

There is need of a device which can differentiate the frequency band properly, because
electromagnetic spectrum is limited and it has to be shared in different applications. Therefore,
to fulfill this requirement, filter is the best suitable choice. Because it can hold the desired
frequency band and reject the undesired frequency. RF/Microwave filters play an important
role in the area of wireless communication. RF and Microwave filters should have higher
performance, more functionalities such as tunable or reconfigurable, smaller size, lighter
weight, and lower cost. According to requirement RF/Microwave filters can be designed as
lumped element and distributed elements circuits. RF/Microwave filters are designed using
transmission line structure such as waveguide, coaxial line, coplanar waveguide slotline and
microstrip.

In recent, the technologies are developed in such a way that it can be possible to design new
type of microstrip and other filters using different materials. There are various fabrication
technologies such as monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC), microelectromechanic
system (MEMS), ferroelectrics, high-temperature superconductor (HTS), low temperature co-
fired ceramics (LTCC), and liquid crystal polymers (LCP) are developed using advanced
materials. The advent of computer aided design (CAD) such as EM simulators are also providing
the best facility to filter design.